Monday and Tuesday in Utah

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Since it's a slow time for tubing in many parts of the country, and since folks on this board appreciate fishin' pics from any source, I'll copy and paste two reports I made on the Utah board. The first is tubing but the second is fishing from a boat. Please forgive me.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]WILLARD BAY 10-23-06[/#0000ff]
[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]It was cold on Willard today...temperature and fishing. TubeBabe and I launched about daybreak (7-ish) but neither of us got a bite for over an hour. Very little on sonar either. The water temp dropped from upper 50's last week to 52 at launch today. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe scored a cold kitty about 8:15, on a minnow. She got another one an hour later. That was it for her.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I fished all kinds of jigs all over the marina without a tiny tick. The water was calm so I kicked outside and tried fishing some spots that often hold fish this time of year. Nada, zip, zilch. Saw some big carp rolling but that was about it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I came back inside and started dragging a minnow on one rod while continuing to work through different plastics on the other. Finally, about 9:30, the tip of my bait rod nodded a couple of times. I allowed the fish to get the minnow good and then set the hook...into a 9" yellow perch. S'prise, s'prise. A few minutes later, I got another one about the same size. Remembered that perch showed up inside the marina during the late fall last year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I finally got a good whack on my small white tube jig. Had hopes for a wiper but settled for a testy 17" kitty. Had a couple more "pop and drop" on bait and a few ticks on plastics but neither of us hooked another fish for the rest of the trip. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I even tried some "dip-sticking" around the almost empty docks, but didn't have much hope. The "Colonel" fished the docks much of the morning from his red Tracker without catching anything I could see. I did not get a touch on any of the several sizes and colors I tried. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Off the water about 1.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fish cleaning station is closed for the winter. Oh well. Also, I am attaching a pic of the new "Lake Cam" tower. It is in between the ramp and the fish cleaning station. The cams can focus on most of the marina (including the ramp) and will turn around to look as far as the north dike.[/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.utahlakeview.com/lake_willard.html"][#000000]LINK TO LAKE CAM[/#000000][/url]
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[#0000ff]A couple of the OF (old f***) regulars stopped by to chat as we were loading up. They said crappies sometimes bite after 3 around the docks. Also said that they were getting wipers last week but couldn't get a bite the last couple of days with the colder water.[/#0000ff]
[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19200;"][#000000] COLD, CLEAR, CALM.JPG [/#000000][/url](124 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19201;"][#000000] NEW CAM TOWER.JPG [/#000000][/url](130 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19202;"][#000000] TUBEBABE IN COLOR.JPG [/#000000][/url](253 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19203;"][#000000] COLONEL CRAPPIE.JPG [/#000000][/url](94.1 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19204;"][#000000] ALMOST EMPTY.JPG [/#000000][/url](130 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19205;"][#000000] MINNOW MUNCHER.JPG [/#000000][/url](110 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=19206;"][#000000] PLASTIC CAT.JPG [/#000000][/url](148 KB) [/size][/black][/font]

[#0000ff]JORDANELLE 10-24-06[/#0000ff]
[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]BFTer Dog-lover doesn't post a lot on the fishing board, but he PMed me that he had been smackin' some perch in the Rock Cliff arm in deeper water. When he invited me to join him in his boat, I was good widdat. He likes perch and he likes jiggin' fer 'em. I was good widdat too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We launched at Hailstone about 8ish and cruised on a light ripple back into the Rock Cliff arm. Started jigging in 30 feet of water and Dog scored the first perch...a nice phat 10 incher. Looked like a good day to come. After that we only caught a few dinks and donated some jigs to the deep brush on the bottom. Gotta pay your dues to get fish on that lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were a few trout rising so I fired one of my pretty red-spotted silver spinners down the shoreline and smacked a 14" slimer, just to show Dog how it was done. Then I went back to jigging.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We moved in and out with the electric motor, seeing very few fish and no real schools. As it got brighter, the fish got more active and we began to score more frequently. A few times we had doubles. Along one stretch of shoreline trees we each caught feisty smallies in only about 10 or 12 feet of water, on the small jigs and spoons we were sending down for perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Dog man pretty much stayed with using a plain 1/8 oz or 1/4 oz. jighead, tipped with worm or perch meat. Me? I took 4 boxes of bait bugs, roadrunners, spinners and jigging spoons and I rotated through most of them. The sunken brush in that area probably looks like it has been decorated for Christmas after all of the pretty sparkly stuff I donated in the pursuit of perchkind.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did catch fish on just about everything I dropped down though. Some things worked better than others. My heavy little casting spoons, like the perch urchins, did surprisingly well, both at catching perch and jiggling free from minor "brush bass" hookups. They also plummeted down much quicker than wimpy little jigs. I also tipped with either worm or perch meat. Larger strips of perch seemed to produce larger perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the past, I have caught two fish at a time on one lure, with two sets of hooks. Yesterday I scored a first...two fish on one treble hook, both hooked in the mouth. (see pic). Yeah, they were both puny perch, but it was a double nevertheless.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Many of the perch we brought up barfed up 2" perch minnows. They were apparently really feeding up. Surprisingly, several also spit out pieces of white plastic, apparently stolen from previous anglers fishing for smallies but donating to pesky perchies. We speculated that maybe there had been a "hatch" of white plastic or something.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Before the "Lake X Zephyrs" kicked up in late morning, we were able to maintain a good vertical drop presentation. After that it became impossible to hold well and that just about ruined the perch jigging. In frustration, I fired a few more casts with the spinner and after missing a couple of hits I got munched by a good fish. Had it almost to the boat and looked down in the water to see a big brown open its mouth, shake a couple of times and give me back my spinner. Oh well. Fun, fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As we motored around, looking for a protected cove with some perch in it, I kept playing with the spinner. I got to reel in several pesky planters. Dog man finally accepted one of my spinners and we slowly trolled around the shoreline on the way back to the ramp. We both molested a number of the little tykes before trailering the boat, but didn't hit anything of size.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Although it was cool enough for some frost on the docks when we launched, it was "one layer" weather most of the day, in spite of the breezes. Had a good time and we both ended up with enough keeper perchskis to keep us busy for awhile at the fillet board later.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

That's a great report. Enjoyed the comments about the white plastic hatch. Liked the perch double, too. Never caught two of anythng on the same hook before. These fish must be pretty aggressive.

Cooler temps wreak havoc with summer patterns. Winter is on the way.

z~
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Hey TD,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Jed and I cruised by the North Marina but didn't see you or TubeBabe - but, I pointed out to Jed what I thought was your vehicle there though. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]It sounds like you missed the Wiper bite by about a half an hour. It turned on in the afternoon for us, but then again, we were out in the bay when we caught our fish. Oh well, we didn't get any catfish or panfish - only wipers.[/size][/black]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I read your report on the Utah Board. Glad you guys got into some fish. I have been doing well inside but the fish moved out in the last week. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have a helluva time trolling at 3 mph for any length of time so I don't do much from my float tube. Not much good at towing water skiers either.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Earlier in the year I fished around the outside dikes more, when the fish were chasing shad in close. But, when they move out and you need speed and range to find them, I take my tube elsewhere.[/#0000ff]
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